TEMECULA: Local girl has grown, donated her hair three times

TEMECULA -- The first time Jordyn Winters got a haircut, she was
5 years old and her thick, straight, blond hair had grown down to
her rear end.

Jordyn chopped off 12 inches and donated it to Locks of Love,
the nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to sick
children who have lost their hair because of an illness or medical
treatment.

Whacking off an entire lifetime of hair growth didn't phase this
spunky Temecula girl because her mom, Katie Winters, accompanied
Jordyn to the salon and had 11 inches of her long hair cut off for
donation, too.

"I think it helped that I did it first," said Katie Winters, who
said she missed her long hair much more than her daughter did.

The next time Jordyn was due for a haircut was two years later,
in the summer of 2005, when Jordyn was 7. Her hair grew back
quickly, and this time she cut and donated 10 inches to Locks of
Love. Jordyn cut it off again without so much as a single
complaint, and said she has gotten used to having short hair during
the summers.

Jordyn's third haircut occurred when she was 8 1/2. Again, her
10-inch ponytail went to Locks of Love.

Now 10 years old, Jordyn's hair has grown back to halfway down
her back. There will be no more haircuts until it is long enough
for another 10 inches to be cut and donated for a fourth time, she
said.

"I'm very proud of her," said her mother, who has saved all the
thank you notes they have received from Locks of Love after each
hair donation. "She likes to help people. She's a giver."

Katie Winters said she is also mulling over another hair
donation now that her hair has grown back long enough to donate,
but she's undecided. Noting Jordyn's three-time donation history,
her mom laughed and said she may have no choice but to donate her
hair again because her daughter, she joked, "is making me look
bad."

For her efforts to help other children, Jordyn was honored
recently at the Friday flag salute assembly at her school, Vintage
Hills Elementary in Temecula. Jordyn, now in fifth grade, was
called up to the front of the assembly, and Principal Jenniffer
Carpenter spoke about her hair donations. Jordyn's handprint in
green paint was added to the Lasting Impression Handball wall on
the playground.

"Jordyn is a doll. She is a positive, happy, child who always
has a smile on her face and is willing to help others," Carpenter
said.

Florida-based Locks of Love, which began 10 years ago, provides
custom-made hairpieces from donated human hair for financially
disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada suffering
from long-term medical hair loss. According to the organization,
most of the children helped have lost their hair as a result of an
autoimmune condition called alopecia areata, which has no known
cause or cure.

Others have suffered severe burns, or endured radiation
treatment to the brain stem, in addition to many other
dermatological conditions that result in permanent hair loss.

The hair prostheses help to restore the child's self-esteem and
confidence.

The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a
sliding scale, based on their financial need. More than 80 percent
of the hair donors are children, according to the organization,
which requires hair donations to be at least 10 inches and bundled
in a ponytail or braid.